Choreographer Jonah Bokaer And Visual Artist Anthony McCall Collaborate On BAM's ‘ECLIPSE’ This September

So uniquely interknit is the creative collaboration between 30-year-old choreographer Jonah Bokaer and 66-year-old visual artist Anthony McCall in the making of "ECLIPSE," their crediting could be fused. Celebrating a double first, the world premiere of "ECLIPSE" will inaugurate the BAM Fisher, September 5?9.

While renowned for his sprawling and wildly imaginative outdoor multimedia installations, "ECLIPSE" marks McCall's first foray into theatrical design. For "ECLIPSE," he has created an installation comprised of a slanting grid of 36 hanging bulbs that hovers above the stage space. With their heights staggered and their soft glow timed to subtly change every 14 seconds, the lights appear, like the dancers below, to create constantly shifting avenues. McCall's set recalls his "Fire Cycles," (1972?1974) in which he systematically ignited quantities of fuel positioned according to a grid imposed on a landscape. The spacing and timing of the "fires" were detailed on "scores."

Using a cast of four performers, Bokaer's 60-minute dance-alternately contemplative, quietly erotic, gently forceful, and ever-surprising-is staged to suggest close-ups, long shots, and multiple points of view associated with the cinema. The dancers' virtuosic concentration and their sculptural shifting moves continually redefine the stage space below, while the alternating lights redefine the space above. An understated magic permeates their dialogue.

The changes in the timing and varied sounds of the accompanying sound design, including that of a softly whirring film projector, a landing helicopter, and the hushed rumble of a passing train, were determined by McCall to both accompany the dance and to signal the change between each of its four sections. The sound designer is David Grubbs.

Viewers will be seated on all four sides of the stage. The sight and sound of "ECLIPSE" changes according to where each individual audience member is seated.

Performance Times
September 5 at 8:00pm (invitation only)
September 6–7 at 7:30pm
September 8 at 7:30pm & 9:30pm
September 9 at 3:00pm

Artist Talk
September 7 at 6:00pm
(free for same-day ticket holders).